MoVida Bar de Tapas
1 Hosier Lane
Melbourne CBD
MoVida had been on my hit list for a while and so when a free night appeared in Melbourne I quickly booked in a night of nibbling on their wares. Its an interesting place - the street art is so prominent that people come by just to snap pictures - not even realising the tasty treats that lie behind the walls!
I started with a complimentary selection of breads and olive oil - which just appeared before me soon after I sat down. The service here is friendly and efficient. As I was dining solo I was happily seated at the bar and the menu was explained to me as my first drink was being poured.
I started with the Anchoa - tasty little hand-filleted Cantabrian artisan anchovy on a wafer thin crouton with smoked tomato sorbet. The saltiness of the anchovy went well with the cool sorbet. It was a small but tasty start and decently priced at $4.50 each.
Next up was the croquetas de choco en su tinta - which was a squid ink croqueta with cuttlefish. This was nice - but not a strong or memorable flavour. At $4.00 each again decently priced.
Then I had a special of the day - Western Australian truffle on quail egg on toasted brioche. I have to admit once I heard the word truffle I was always going to get this treat. It was delicious. The truffle went brilliantly with the gooey quail egg and the slightly sweet brioche. It was a real winner! Although a little more pricey at $10.00 each it was well worth it.
I followed up with the polo escabache al Miguel. This was spiced chicken escabache tapa on a crisp crouton
cerdo. The tasty and tangy "sandwich like" treat was another nice nibble. These are $4.50 each.
I couldn't resist the bocadillo - which is a small sardine sandwich with compressed capsicum. The combination was delicious and at only $3.50 its possible the cheapest thing on the menu - I should have had two!
The gamba sounded so nice it was also on the hit list. This was described in the menu as prawn and Romesco pincho and it was certainly delicious. While it wasn't huge (nothing is here) it was very tasty and was only $3.50.
I finished up with the brunelos de bacalao con pil-pil - or to you and me it is salt cod and potato fritters with lemon emulsion. Be careful with these - they are very hot inside - but very tasty as well. At only $4.50 they were again good value.
I really enjoyed MoVida Bar de Tapas. The food was inventive and tasty. The service was efficient, friendly and helpful and the decor was bustling but nice. In a group you could try a lot more, but there's plenty there as well for the solo diner.
